Chapter 2 - THE FILE THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE EXISTED
My father did what powerful men often do when they are cornered.
He smiled.
Not because he was calm.
Because he wanted everyone else to believe he was.
“This is absurd.”
Luca said nothing.
Arthur turned toward the guests.
“I apologize. Apparently my daughter and her husband have chosen Chloe’s wedding to create some kind of corporate spectacle.”
There it was.
Instant reframing.
He had poured the wine.
He had mocked me publicly.
But somehow I was ruining the wedding.
Mom rushed to his side.
“Arthur, maybe we should speak privately.”
“No.”
Luca’s answer came before Dad’s.
He looked at me.
“Jessi decides.”
That mattered more than anyone there understood.
My whole life, other people decided what I could tolerate.
What counted as disrespect.
When I was being too sensitive.
Whether a humiliation was “just a joke.”
Luca was not taking control from my father.
He was handing it to me.
I removed his jacket from my shoulders and held it against the stain.
“We stay.”
Dad’s eyes hardened.
“Jessi.”
“You wanted me included in the family speech.”
A few guests looked away.
“So let’s finish the family discussion.”
Marcus Reed swore softly.
Flynn leaned toward him.
“Dad, what is going on?”
Marcus still did not answer.
Luca took the black folder from his security director.
“At 3:12 this afternoon, someone used Arthur Sterling’s law-firm credentials to access a data room tied to Project Meridian.”
I knew the name.
Meridian was confidential.
Extremely confidential.
Vance Global had been preparing to acquire a software-security company valued at almost $1.8 billion.
Fewer than forty people knew.
My stomach tightened.
“How did Dad get credentials?”
“He shouldn’t have.”
Dad’s smile disappeared.
Luca continued.
“The data room provider flagged the login because his firm is not current counsel on the transaction.”
Arthur said, “Then someone used my credentials.”
“Possible.”
Dad relaxed slightly.
“Exactly.”
Luca opened the folder.
“Which is why we checked the IP address.”
Dad stopped breathing.
“Private residence,” Luca said. “Napa.”
Several heads turned.
This wedding estate belonged to Chloe’s new in-laws.
Marcus Reed’s family.
Flynn stared at his father.
“Dad?”
Marcus said quietly, “Not here.”
That told me more than a denial would have.
Luca looked at him.
“The login came from this property.”
Guests began whispering.
Chloe’s face went white.
“What does that mean?”
I turned toward Dad.
“Were you working today?”
“I’m always working.”
“At Chloe’s wedding?”
“Don’t be childish.”
I almost laughed.
Somehow asking whether he stole confidential corporate information during his daughter’s wedding was childish.
Luca’s security director stepped forward.
“We also have hallway footage from the business suite upstairs.”
Marcus exploded.
“You accessed my private security system?”
“No,” the man said. “Your own IT vendor turned it over after receiving a preservation request.”
Marcus’s face changed.
Flynn backed away from him.
Chloe whispered, “What preservation request?”
Luca looked at me.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
There was always more.
The footage showed Dad entering a private office at 2:58 p.m.
Marcus entered six minutes later.
Then a third person.
A woman.
When Luca showed me the still image, I felt something inside me go cold.
My mother.
Wendy Sterling.
All three of them had been inside that office less than an hour before the ceremony.
Dad looked at Mom.
Mom looked away.
I stared at her.
“You were with them?”
“It was wedding paperwork.”
“Then why did you lie?”
“I didn’t lie.”
“You told me you spent the afternoon with Chloe.”
Chloe slowly turned toward Mom.
“You told me that too.”
Mom’s hands started shaking.
“Please. Not tonight.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
Her eyes filled.
“Because you don’t understand what’s at stake.”
Luca said, “Then explain.”
Mom looked at Dad.
He gave her a warning stare.
I saw it.
So did Chloe.
For the first time, my perfect little sister looked frightened of our father.
Not annoyed.
Not embarrassed.
Frightened.
Then Flynn’s phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Marcus snapped, “Put that away.”
Flynn ignored him.
He held the screen toward Chloe.
A financial-news alert had just gone live.
REED PACIFIC BANK UNDER REVIEW OVER UNDISCLOSED EXPOSURE TO MERIDIAN ACQUISITION.
The ballroom erupted in whispers.
Marcus went completely still.
I looked at Luca.
“Did you release that?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
His security director answered.
“We’re trying to find out.”
Another alert appeared.
Then another.
This one was worse.
STERLING LAW PARTNER LINKED TO POSSIBLE CONFIDENTIAL DATA BREACH.
My father grabbed his phone.
His face drained.
Then Mom whispered:
“Oh God.”
I looked at her.
She wasn’t staring at the headlines.
She was staring toward the ballroom doors.
A woman had just entered.
Late sixties.
Silver hair.
Black dress.
Elegant.
My mother looked like she had seen a ghost.
I recognized the woman only from photographs.
Because according to my family, she had died when I was nine years old.
My grandmother.
Eleanor Sterling.
May you like
Alive.
And walking straight toward us.
